The Coming Assault on Contraceptive Care

In an op-ed published on CNN Opinion, Guttmacher Institute President and CEO Ann M. Starrs discusses the broad-based attack on family planning access in the United States that the Trump administration and social conservatives in Congress have vowed to undertake. These attacks would roll back the Affordable Care Act’s gains in insurance coverage and contraceptive access, while simultaneously gutting the family planning safety net, leaving tens of millions of U.S. women worse off than they are today.

Excerpt from the CNN Opinion op-ed:

Social conservatives opposed to women's health, rights and autonomy now control the White House, both houses of Congress and, at the state level, most governors' houses and legislatures. Even as these policymakers continue their assault on abortion rights, they are also poised to enact policy that will undercut US women's access to family planning services.

The groundwork for this onslaught against high-quality, affordable contraceptive care is being laid in Congress and the Trump administration. It will be broad-based and has the potential to leave many US women worse off than they are today, according to research published by the Guttmacher Institute. Full or partial repeal of the Affordable Care Act in particular would leave millions of women entirely without health insurance, while tens of millions more would see their insurance's contraceptive coverage severely degraded. Care for millions more is at risk from attacks on publicly funded family planning programs and providers, particularly Planned Parenthood, that are critical for low-income women, women of color and the uninsured.

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